Internationale Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle

The Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle is the cyclocross race that closes the season, held on a Sunday in late February beside the airfield of Oostmalle in Belgium. Officially the Internationale Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle, it has elite races for women and men on a course that leaves a paved start for a natural sandpit and then winds through pine forest. It is a standalone race, outside the season-long series, and is organized by a local supporters' club, the Wieler Supportersclub Oostmalle.

The sandbox of the Kempen, beside Oostmalle airfield

The Sluitingsprijs is held in a nature area beside the airfield of Oostmalle, off the N153 road to Herentals. Start and finish are on a paved stretch of road. From there the course bends into a natural sandpit and then winds through pine forest. The organizer calls it the sandbox of the Kempen, after the sandy region the village lies in. The riders’ village is set up on the runway, and riders sign in at the flying club.

A supporters’ club runs the last race of the cyclocross season

The Wieler Supportersclub Oostmalle was founded in 1977 to support riders from the municipality of Malle, along the course or with money. Its race began as a small cross on the Renesse estate in Oostmalle, outgrew it and moved to the airfield. The club’s list of winners starts in 1995. In 2010 the club also organized the Belgian championships.

In 2026 the Saturday before the race had a youth clinic, a race for residents of Malle and a race for local companies. On the Sunday the under-17 riders and juniors raced in the morning, before the elite women and the elite men.

Where Sanne Cant and Lars van der Haar rode their last cross

No race follows Oostmalle, so riders who are stopping tend to stop here. In 2025 seven of them did, and Sanne Cant drew most of the attention. The 15-time Belgian champion and three-time world champion rode her 418th and last elite cross. She came to the line sprinting for third place, and Hélène Clauzel of France came from behind to take it from her in the last meters. Lucinda Brand had ridden away in the second lap and won alone.

A year later it was the turn of Lars van der Haar, who finished 14th in his farewell race. That day was soaked by rain, and Niels Vandeputte passed the young Yordi Corsus in the last meters for his second win in the race. In the women’s race the home rider Laura Verdonschot crossed the line of her last cross in a shower of confetti.

Six wins for Niels Albert

Niels Albert won the Sluitingsprijs six times: in 2007 and 2008, and four years in a row from 2011 to 2014. Sven Nys won three times, in 1999, 2005 and 2009. Wout van Aert won in 2015 and 2017 and Mathieu van der Poel in 2018, before Laurens Sweeck won four in a row from 2020 to 2023. On the women’s list, which starts in 2004, Daphny van den Brand has five wins, Sanne Cant five in a row from 2013 to 2017, and Marianne Vos three.